March 27–People looking forward to staying in the hotel planned for the historic LeVeque Tower can start making plans for next year.
The 150-room Marriott is now expected to open in spring 2016, its owners announced yesterday, and will occupy the fifth through 10th floors of the 46-floor building that opened in 1927.
One of the hotel’s amenities will be an upscale restaurant on the mezzanine level in the space that originally housed the tower’s Hall of Mirrors.
“This is an exciting day, a big, next-step forward” in the $20 million to $22 million renovation of the LeVeque, said Robert Loversidge, the architect for Tower 10 LLC, owner of the 555-foot, 6-inch tower.
The hotel will be operated by First Hospitality Group of Rosemont, Ill., under a partnership agreement with Tower 10 principals Don Casto and Robert Meyers.
It will be part of Marriott’s upscale Autograph Collection of hotels.
“When the LeVeque was built, the first 18 floors were a 600-room hotel that was an addition to the older Deshler-Wallick Hotel next door,” Loversidge said.
The tower has been under renovation, with the lobby and the terra-cotta exterior of the first five floors of the LeVeque now completed.
The second to fourth floors will be office space, as will several additional floors starting with the 11th floor.
Apartments and possibly condominiums are part of the renovation plans.
“Our hope is a mix of 25 percent hotel, 25 percent residential and 50 percent office, but we’re not ready to announce the details of the housing plans yet,” Loversidge said.
The completion dates of the office and residential spaces have not been finalized.
“Hotel LeVeque will be a singular attraction for both visitors and residents in our most iconic structure,” Mayor Michael B. Coleman said in a statement. “It will enhance the LeVeque Tower’s presence while properly honoring its history.”
Tower 10 purchased the LeVeque in 2011 for $4.04 million.
@stevewartenberg
